The 99 Percent
by The Mass Effect Gamer
Summary: Nowhere else to go. Nothing holding them down. Two brothers, washed up where nothing ends, and everything begins. Omega. Complete OC cast, with maybe a couple mentions of Archangel and his crew near the end.
1. Chapter 1

**Starting from Scratch **

**Washed Up **

For Omega, new arrivals were an everyday occurrence. For a batarian and a human, this was their first time. Jeeran glanced up at the human next to him, who was staring quietly into the deep void outside the shuttle. _Probably still thinking about whether this was a good idea or not. Omega is a gamble; we're throwing all our chits on the table by coming here. No. It's not. Stealing money from his parents and leaving Earth was a gamble. Moving to Anhur was a gamble. Selling our car parts store on Anhur was a gamble. Coming to Omega is akin to jumping off a skyscraper. _

"Please prepare to disembark. Approximate arrival time to Omega: five minutes."

"This is the last stop, Brendan," the batarian chuckled darkly. "After all we've been through, this is the biggest."

"We were finished on the Anhur, Jeeran," Brendan replied, never taking his eyes off of the window. "It was either leave and start over, or work a dead-end job for the rest of our lives. On Omega, we have a chance to make it big."

"We're not exactly one of a kind. People from all over the galaxy end up in Omega. We're no different from the rest of the wanderers that stumble onto this station."

"That's exactly where you're wrong, Jeeran. We _are_ different. Our names are gonna be all over the fucking billboards on Omega. We'll show that asshole Kenje back on Anhur that we can do this."

Jeeran narrowed at the mention of the rival dealer on Anhur. He had sold them an engine that was set to explode when it was activated. The engine in question ended up rigged to the man's front door, much to his surprise when the foul-smelling goo splattered all over his apartment. His response had been to call the authorities and periodically throw insults at the pair during their store inspection. "Ten thousand credits isn't a lot of capital to work with, Brendan."

"You've always been more of a glass half empty guy."

"I call myself a realist."

"Shut the fuck up," he smiled, finally tearing his gaze away from the glass. "Either way, you're stuck with me until the day we die."

"Please exit the shuttle," rang the shuttle VI. "We are not responsible for any belongings left on the shuttle after departure."

Jeeran stepped onto the spaceport floor, the sound echoing in the corridor. The other passengers shuffled out of the vehicle, avoiding eye contact with anybody. _That's the rule of thumb on Omega. Don't piss anyone off you can't handle. Anyone more, and you're dead. Reminds me of Earth. _Jeeran looked skywards, taking in the immense sight of the dirty metropolis. People walked to their destinations quickly and quietly, eyes facing the ground and hands in their pockets. A few turians in armor hung at the sides of the crowds, hands clasped around barely concealed weaponry. A couple of krogan stood in the corner of one of the endless walkways, shaking down a scared human. Jeeran had just enough time to step back as a vorcha sprinted past him, hissing and spitting at someone behind him. It reminded him of the cities on Earth, dark but dotted with lights, dank, and full of low lives just waiting to pounce on them. _Then again, we're on of those low lives too. Just part of the endless crowd of the desperate. The only one who seems to be unaffected is Brendan. _Jeeran glanced at him, big, tall, stretching a bit from the flight. Brendan met his look. "Cheer up, man," he said, noting his dark expression. "All we have to do is get a start on Omega, and we're on our way."

"Do you have any suggestions?"

"…well, I was kind of hoping you did."

Jeeran nodded, used to the bald man's antics. He pulled up a list of contacts on his omni-tool. "I have a few contacts on Omega. One of them was my colleague back on Earth."

"I don't remember you having any friends," Brendan frowned.

"She used to—"

"Oh, I see. A lady _friend._"

Jeeran scrolled through his contact list, struggling to remember her where he had filed her information. The orange glow of the omni-tool shone on his face, illuminating the perpetual glare he held. "Okay, I'm sorry. You can continue with the story now."

"She used to work as a reporter back on Earth. But that wasn't all of what she did. She was also able to give me information about the job market on the Anhur and what was in demand at the time, which was why I suggested we set up an auto parts store."

"You still didn't answer my question."

"I met her while she was reporting a car crash in front of a bank. Fortunately, my deposit was still safe. In any case, we kept in touch after she interviewed me. The last time I saw her was when she told me she was going to Omega to visit a friend."

"How long ago was this?"

"Approximately three years ago, before we moved to the Anhur."

Silence. Brendan shook his head. "I guess that's a fucking reasonable timeframe for visiting friends. Do you know if she's even here?"

"I have located her apartment. She lives in the Riordan district. I suggest we leave for her apartment before nightfall."

"What are you talking about? It's always night on Omega."

##################

Jeeran stopped at the ninth door in the hallway. "This is her apartment."

Brendan peered at the rusty metal door. Years of neglect had left the door almost entirely orange. "Doesn't look like much," he noted.

"Don't be fooled by the door. Look up."

The big man looked up. At the top of the doorway, a black dot sat in the center of the frame, bigger than the other molded spots. "I would consider knocking," Jeeran said. "but she already knows we're here. You can open the door whenever you like."

The door slid open, revealing an asari, who happened to be holding a pistol to Brendan's face, about two feet above her. Unlike most of the asari they had passed on the way here, this one was holding a dangerous weapon and wore less revealing clothing. "What the hell do you want?" said the asari. _Ah. Exactly the way I remember her._

"Ira Calori, I take it?" Jeeran offered.

She switched the pistol to his face instead. "Who are you?"

"A question many people pose to strangers, but in this case, I am Jeeran. Unless you don't recall our association back on Earth?"

She squinted for a second, glancing back and forth between his eyes. _A problem most species face when dealing with my species. Which set of eyes to look into? For everyday use, people should look into the lower pair. _"Jeeran," said the asari, breaking into a smirk and thankfully lowering her pistol. "What brings you to Omega?"

"…career change," he finally decided. "Omega has many opportunities for those who take advantage of it."

"I see," she said, letting her pistol hand fall to the side. "Who's this?"

"Runaway, car salesman, and soon-to-be-king of Omega at your service," Brendan announced, making Jeeran wince.

"He still hasn't changed," said Jeeran.

"He's always been annoying."

"I'm still here," said Brendan.

"You should probably just come inside before Aria's people believe you're a threat," said Ira, allowing them inside the apartment.

"Her people watch you?" asked Jeeran.

"On Omega, you learn to watch your ass. Aria has a lot of enemies."

"Wait, you just insulted us," Brendan realized.

"Just take a seat here," Ira pointed. They sat down at the coffee table. Jeeran looked around her apartment, which was filled with asari art and other less frugal objects. Compared to what he had seen on the way here, it was nice.

"What do you do here, Ira? I don't suppose there is much room for a reporter on Omega. Or rather, visiting friends for three years."

Ira looked behind and around us, as if she was looking for anyone inside her own apartment other than the two of them. "I didn't come here to visit," she finally said.

"I suspected as much."

"I won't hand out biographies of my life to everyone. That includes you, Jeeran. But I _can _tell you that I work for Aria."

"The Aria T'Loak?" said Brendan, raising an eyebrow. "As in the "don't fuck with Aria" Aria?"

"No, the other ruler of Omega," replied the asari, rolling her eyes. "She asked me if I could gather information for her on…certain items of interest on Omega."

"She asked you to report things to her?" said Jeeran.

"I couldn't refuse." She shrugged. "Eventually I wound up staying here."

"What about that friend?" piped up Brendan.

She dismissed Brendan with a wave of her hand. "It's nothing that concerns you."

"Other matters aside," Jeeran interjected. "we did have a purpose in coming here."

"I expected that," Ira said, laying her pistol to the side. "What did you have in mind?"

"We were looking for some…lodgings in the area. Know of anything available?"

"Well," said the asari thoughtfully. "there _is_ a recently vacated building in the Koplar district. You could stay there."

"Recently vacated?" said Brendan. "The hell do you mean by that?"

"There was a gang war going on in that district between Gold Train and the Skulkers. The Skulkers won, and they killed all the Gold Train gang members in that building and kidnapped their leaders to torture them. So now the district's calmed down."

"Why the hell is that the safest option?"

"It's not the safest," replied Ira. "Nowhere on Omega is safe. But that is the best option, unless you want to ask that other reliable contact you have."

"And why is it the best?" said Jeeran.

"Any other apartment around here is "protected" by the Skulkers. Extortion for protection: you know the drill. They control that district, so you're exempt from their taxes."

"And you've escaped your payments?" Jeeran asked.

"Working with Aria has its advantages."

"Then it is fine," Jeeran concluded. "How much do we pay you?"

"No need," said the asari. "Just don't mention me at all, and you'll be fine."

"Like getting into the Earth mafia," muttered Brendan, getting out of his chair. "We'll just go now."

"Just stay alert," Ira advised behind us. "Omega doesn't protect the weak."

"We'll keep that in mind," said Jeeran. "But wait, I need to talk with you for a minute." The door closed, leaving Brendan standing outside. The only thing he could hear at the moment was the staccato sound of his foot against the floor. Then, Jeeran appeared just as quickly as he had disappeared. "What were you up to in there?" said Brendan.

"Making sure we stay a step ahead of the rest. We need to go now." Brendan frowned at the batarian.

"Where the hell is the Koplar district?"

#######################

The aircar zipped past the market district, a dark shadow moving across a sea of lights. Jeeran looked down to the night clubs, to where the famous Afterlife club was located. Dark, purple pulsing lights flashed from windows, and Jeeran thought he could faintly see an asari stripper dancing in the light. _I never could understand the galactic fantasy for the asari. Then again, they are quite flexible for a species. I wonder if Brendan had seen that stripper. _"Jeeran, you're going to hope that you have a fetish for asari. Omega's the best place for asari."

_Of course he did. _Jeeran looked back to the pilot's cabin. "You're supposed to be paying attention to driving, not distant strippers."

"There's no fucking road here! I can pay attention to anything and still drive."

"Perhaps if you had let me pilot the aircar…"

"No way. I don't want to be going two damn klicks per hour and get pulled over for going too slow.

"There is no law enforcement on Omega."

"Shut up."

"That's the second time you have told me to shut up."

"Make it three. Shut up."

"We are here."

The aircar finally landed at the edge of the district. Brendan popped open the car doors. "And she just let us have her aircar?"

"It was not hers."

"Then whose was it?"

"Does it matter?"

Brendan twisted his head to Jeeran, who was innocently unloading his luggage from the car. The smell of the Omega air permeated everything, leaving Jeeran feeling like he needed a shower already. Brendan wrinkled his nose, squinting at Jeeran through the smog. "You're a very sneaky deviant." Brendan concluded.

"Opposites do attract."

"Hey, I can be devious when I want to be."

"That was not my intended meaning."

"Okay, that's just mean."

Jeeran looked up at the building. For a free house, this was impressive, with a garage in front and two levels in the building. The entire building was seated on the edge of the level, with an unobstructed view of Omega on the other side. A balcony jutted out from the second level and gave an excellent 180 degree viewpoint of the district. A discarded rifle lay buried underneath a pile of garbage. Brendan picked it up. "Free toy too," he said, checking the weapon. "But it doesn't have a thermal clip."

"We are lucky to find one at all."

Jeeran punched in the codes for the house, unlocking the door. Inside, overturned furniture lay strewn across the floor, with a couple of drawers and a refrigerator left standing. The staircase was riddled with bullet holes, and an abandoned thermal clip was sitting on a counter, along with a spray of dried blood. A broken helmet lay discarded in the corner, almost unrecognizable. Upon inspection, the upper level was less damaged, though one section of the floor was missing on the other side of the building. A sniper rifle was found snapped in half, hidden underneath one of the four bunk beds in the front of the house near the balcony. One window contained no glass at all. "I think it looks great," Brendan commented. "The blood adds to the visual aspect of the building."

"We should decide how to generate funds for ourselves first, and then redecorate."

"Just hold on. When there's a will, there's a way."

"Where did that quote originate?"

"I actually don't know. Wait, how do you know that's a quote? I could've thought of it."

"Highly unlikely."

"Shut up."

"Four."

"What are we going to do on Omega?" Brendan demanded. "We can't do cars again; there'd be way too much competition. Where are we going to get contracts? We don't know a fucking thing about this station."

"I believe you were the one to say that we would own Omega."

"That doesn't mean that I know everything we need to do! What do you think we should do?"

Jeeran looked out the window. "Ira said she had an idea for us. I can wait."

Jeeran paused. Brendan looked around the room, absentmindedly picking at his shirt. The Sahrabarik star cast a dull orange light on the room, and Jeeran was suddenly aware that the day was drawing closer to dark. _The end of our time on Anhur…but the beginning of our time on Omega. I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing. I've spent the first part of my life on Earth, then Anhur, and then Omega. I acutally think I'm worse off than I was in the beginning. _

"How long?"


	2. Chapter 2: The Next Big Thing

_Author's Note: In case some people didn't read the profile update, the 99 Percent has been reedited and changed. I want this story to be a Slice of Life story (with some action), rather than a completely action-filled fanfiction. If you enjoy reading my action fanfiction, then author alert me and wait for my upcoming story: The Homefront. Most of my updates come from my profile bio. Sorry to anyone who wanted the 99 Percent to be an action fanfiction. Read and Review!_

**Starting from Scratch**

**The Next Big Thing**

_Day 1. It's been one day since we've left Anhur for Omega. Secretly, I'm worried. Worried that Jeeran and I have gotten into shit, way bigger shit than anything we've done before. We've always had each other's backs, but this time we've got to work together to survive. Of course, there's no way I'm telling Jeeran this. _

"What is _that_?"

Jeeran stared at the block of metal on the desk. Ira clapped a hand onto the block, starting the machine. The block slowly began to unfurl itself, beeping and whirring as the sections started to move apart. The machine extended upwards and another piece rose from the top, ending in a roughly rectangular block of metal with a glass front wrapping around the front. Arms, legs, and finally the head materialized in front of him. A red rectangle appeared on the glass and the room grew silent again.

"That is next big thing on Omega."

Jeeran leaned forward, staring at the machine's head. The machine stared back, motionless and inactive. _Well, of course it's not doing anything. It's a machine. I can't believe I'm even thinking about this. _"I was hoping you would be more explicit."

"This is a LOKI mech, a security robot produced by Hadne-Kednar. The Alliance started producing more LOKI mechs after the Battle of the Citadel to make up for their losses. We just started getting the first shipments a few weeks ago."

"They don't look particularly useful," Jeeran commented.

"They're inexpensive, simply built, and versatile. The LOKI mechs are the galaxy's new krogan." Ira keyed in a command on her omni-tool, and the mech closed in on itself, crouching and shrinking until it was once again a metal box, not out of place in the room. "Hadne-Kednar usually makes shit, but these are on top of the pile. And they're easy to build and program too."

Ira turned to Jeeran. "Can you make them?"

"I don't know, Ira," Jeeran said, rubbing his head. "I'm just a car mechanic.

"And also one of the best engineers in the Terminus Systems," Ira said. "You went to the Beckett Institute of Technology, one of the best engineering universities in the human colonies. Aria has other people working on them too, but they're just as shitty as they used to be. I just need you to upgrade these mechs, give them an edge. Can you do that?"

"Ira, I don't even know how to upgrade it. I've never worked with LOKI mechs before."

"Not that many people have either, and that's what will give you the advantage and Aria the advantage as well. They're simple to program and arm, and Aria can pay you for your work. 1000 credits for every mech you give to her. The LOKI mechs are only worth around 650 each. Will you do it?"

Jeeran sighed, standing out of his seat. "Where can I get them?"

Ira handed Jeeran a data pad. Jeeran scrolled through the data, noting the contact numbers and information. "That's a list of people who can get you the materials you need. I'll send you the requirements and settings for the mechs. Oh, and you might want to take a look at the number at the bottom."

Jeeran looked down the list. "Who's Tedril?"

"He's an information broker and your man on the street. If something sneezes in the Koplar district, he'll know who. Fortunately for you, I don't think you're going to have a lot of problems setting up shop in the Koplar district."

"How so?"

"There was a brief war between the Street Men and the Skulkers in the Koplar district. The Skulkers won, but their pull in the district is much smaller than before. I don't think you'll hear from them for a while, if you do at all. Your house is actually the Street Men's base of operations. The Skulkers didn't have the resources to occupy the house while they regrouped."

"I see," said Jeeran, standing up. He placed a gloved hand on the mech. "Do you mind if I take this mech for inspection?"

"Sure," Ira said, leaning back in her chair. "Aria wants forty mechs for the first shipment. Get them to me in a week. Of course, if you finish earlier, then bring them to me when you have them. The software and hardware specifications are on the data pad."

Jeeran glanced at the data pad, scrolling through the long list of numbers. He stepped outside. "How long will it take for the parts to arrive?"

"Depending on the supplier, it should take a few days. It shouldn't take you as long to build the mechs."

"And if I can't in a week?"

The door began to close. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

###################

"What the hell is that?"

Brendan tapped the mech's head, and the mech's headlights flickered in response. He retreated back to his couch, resting his chin on his hand.

"This is a LOKI mech," Jeeran said. "And also our method of generating funds."

Brendan peered closely at the mech. "How's this robot going to make us money?"

"Ira wants us to build and program these mechs so that she can give them to Aria T'Loak. She gave us a data pad for contact and supplier information."

"Let me see that." Brendan scrolled through the data for a minute, and then tossed the pad onto the table. "Do you know how to build one of these things?"

Jeeran scratched the back of his head. "For the moment…no." Brendan worked his mouth for a few seconds. "Great," Brendan said, standing up. "Let's tear this thing apart."

It took Jeeran a moment to catch up. "What? For what purpose?"

"You want to know how these mechs tick, right?" Brendan said, lifting the mech's arm as if there was an instruction manual hidden there. "You have to take it apart."

"Perhaps we should consult someone about this, first."

Brendan let the arm fall back into place. "All right. Go on the extranet. Omnipedia it. Just let me know which part I should take off first and which parts I should avoid."

Twenty minutes later, the mech lay in pieces on the floor. Brendan wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead as he dug his hand through the mech's visorless face. In the space of twenty minutes, Jeeran had learned a lot about LOKI mechs and their hardware and software. Unfortunately, Brendan was still wondering about how they were going to put it back together. The closest matching result as to how to do so was an OmniAnswers post blatantly stating, "You shouldn't have taken it apart at all, n00b. XD ROTFLOL!"

"Don't touch that!" Brendan's hand froze for the sixth time, fingers still clasped on a small square object. "That's the navigation systems matrix. If you remove it, the mech will not be able to guide itself."

"Right," Brendan said, slowly releasing the matrix. His hand gingerly retreated from the mech's head. "Are you done yet? I thought you were a genius. They said your IQ was, what, one sixty something?"

"Genius does not completely refer to the ability to absorb information," Jeeran responded testily. "Despite their simple programming and even simpler construction, the LOKI mech is difficult to build. I'm attempting to find a supplier who can deliver LOKI parts that even an amateur"—Jeeran glanced at Brendan—"could assemble."

"Now that's just hurtful," said Brendan as he attempted to insert the mech arm into an unidentified section of the mech in vain. "I helped put together cars. I'm pretty sure putting a mech together won't be that hard. It was easy to take it apart."

"Naturally," Jeeran mused. "Why don't you try rebuilding the mech?"

"Sure, the parts just go…" Brendan realized the futility of his efforts, and abandoned the arm. "All right, just work on that. I think we're going to have to consider another factor in our "business plan"."

"What is that?"

"Security. Omega is kind of like Earth. There's gotta to be some gang that's running the district, and they usually charge people for "store security"."

"The Skulkers," Jeeran said.

"What? All right, the Skulkers. Either we hire security, maybe we could get some of Aria's guys, or pay their prices. I think a merc company is going to be a lot cheaper."

"We'll discuss it when the time comes," Jeeran said. "At the moment, we need to discuss what our plan is for the future. For now, all we have is an idea for building LOKI mechs for Aria. Eventually, we will need to branch out."

"We won't just have to make them for Aria. We can sell them to other buyers. Aria's just a starting point."

"We have to have a base income first. That's Aria. We can't do anything until we are sure that we have enough available resources to fund our business. I will begin searching for a list of possible contractors and buyers. Get in touch with Tedril."

"Who?"

Jeeran slid the data pad back to Brendan. His eyes fell on the last name on the list. "Tedril is an information broker. Specifically an information broker for the Koplar district. We need to learn the situation in the Koplar district now concerning the Skulkers."

Jeeran activated the communicator on his omni-tool. "Wait, Jeeran."

"What?"

"There's one thing we haven't considered," Brendan said seriously.

"What is that?"

Brendan held his arms out wide. 'Is there any place here where we can get a drink?"

Jeeran smirked.

####################

Brendan's hand fell heavily on the table, cracking the dirty glass cup as it impacted the hard metal. He winced, and poured the asari liquor into the glass, not even reacting as the liquid partially spilled onto his hand. Brendan downed the drink in one gulp, breathing hard as he repeated the cycle for the sixth time.

"Brendan," Jeeran said, setting down his own glass. It was his first. "If we're planning to meet the information broker, we need to be sober. This includes you."

"This is nothing," Brendan said, slightly slurring his words. "No _fucking _way asari liquor is going to keep me…down."

The big man set his cup down again. The shot glass shattered upon touching down, falling into glittering pieces on the table. Brendan barely noticed, grabbing the liquor bottle by the neck. He shook it tentatively, and tilted his head back as the liquor ran down his throat and neck.

Jeeran sighed, and looked around the bar to see if their contact had arrived. The _Red Dwarf _was not his first choice, or any of his choices at all, and the people there seemed more destitute than the building itself. The bartender glanced at their booth against the wall while absentmindedly cleaning a glass cup with a rag that was dirtier than the cup. An enormous human sat heavily on two straining stools near the counter. His eyes drooped and he stared at the doorway while one meaty hand lay dipped in a puddle of liquid. A drunken turian was lying in the corner, bottle still clutched in hand. The lonely bartender had told Jeeran that there were usually more people in the bar. The thought didn't seem very endearing to him.

Movement by the door suddenly caught Jeeran's eye. The lone salarian made his way to their table, stepping over several fallen bottles and barely avoiding a lumbering krogan as he stumbled to the exit. The salarian sat down next to Brendan, whose head was lying on the table. His beady black eyes focused on Jeeran, looking up and down, sizing him up. Jeeran's eyes met the salarian's eyes and held his gaze.

"You're Jeeran, right?" the salarian said, breaking the silence. Jeeran leaned back a bit; he hadn't realized he was leaning forward.

"I am. I assume you're Tedril?"

Tedril leaned forward, clasping his hands together. "Yeah. I heard that you're in the market for some information. What kind of information?"

Jeeran's finger twirled around the inside of his glass. "I need to know what the situation is in the Koplar district. Concerning the Skulkers."

"Oh, that's easy." Tedril raised a hand and beckoned for one of the bar's employees. The human worker dropped a dusty data pad onto the table and retreated to the counter. Tedril glance disdainfully at the menu and left the pad on the table. "It's not my first choice of bars."

Jeeran nodded. "Agreed. The information?"

The salarian's head snapped straight, as if just remembering something. "Right. The Skulkers. What do you want to know about them?"

Jeeran poured the liquor into his glass and took a long draught, setting the cup to the side. "First, what is their relative strength in the Koplar district at this moment?"

"Let me see," Tedril said, tapping his fist against his chin. "Not really high."

"I was hoping you would be more specific. For instance, what happened in the district to bring the Skulkers down so far?"

"Okay, okay. They just had a war with the Street Men, and then someone went and raised the prices on red sand. That really hurt them, and then the…" Tedril began to mumble under his breath, and then he looked back to Jeeran.

"Right. Several weeks ago, the Skulkers ran the west side of the Koplar district. They had their hands in smuggling, drug dealing, protection; you name it. The Street Men were on the other side of the spectrum. Literally. They ran the east side. The Skulkers were more organized than the Street Men. The Skulkers shook down storeowners for money and created "protection expenses". The Street Men would slit your throat for a credit chit and leave your blooding corpse where they cut you. Kind of why I worked more on this side of the district. The Skulkers are more civilized about it."

"Then, four weeks ago, some Street Men guy went over to the west side and slit a guy's throat. Unfortunately, this guy was a Skulker, and he was the leader of the red sand operation in that area. The Skulkers took the Street Men guy and sent his head back to the boys back home. The Street Men got mad and brought all of their men into the west side of the district. That day was just a _shitstorm_. Bam, bam, bam, and the Skulkers won at the end of the day. Of course, the Skulkers lost a lot people in that war. I think I remember that they had around fifty guys left. I haven't heard much from the Skulkers since the gang war. I hear that their base of operations, which is where they are right now, is somewhere in the middle of the district. You can actually walk out into the middle of the street and look anyone in the eye without getting shot. Well, unless you look at krogan. Or a batarian. Or a group of drunk humans. Actually, don't look anyone in the eye."

Jeeran reached for the bottle to pour more liquor into his glass, but the bottle was empty. _Huh. I don't recall drinking that much. _"So it would be safe to set up a business in the district right now?"

"Oh yeah. Right now, this district is safer than any other on Omega. Well, except for the Afterlife district. You have plans?"

"Yes, they're…" Jeeran stopped. "Well, that's what we needed to know about the Skulkers. I guess that's—"

"Fuck." Tedril slid to the edge of the booth as Brendan slowly rose to the edge of the table, shaking as he gripped the cold metal. His eyes were bloodshot.

"Shit," Brendan mumbled. "What happened?" He glared at Tedril squinting through the dim light. "Who the hell is this?"

Tedril shook his head. "This is Brendan?"

"…yes," Jeeran replied.

"What?" Brendan said, running a hand through his hair. "So this is the information broker? So then…you guys are done talking already? Shit, Jeeran. Come on, you got to wait on me, man. So what are we doing now?"

"We will keep in touch," Jeeran said. "Wait, I thought I needed to pay you."

"I don't ask for payment on the first call," Tedril explained, walking away. He was soon immersed in a conversation with the bartender.

"That was not cool, Jeeran," Brendan said in a half-daze. "Not _cool_."

"So was drinking four bottles of asari liquor."

"I _told _you," Brendan said, shaking the bottle for any remaining liquor. "There's no way this much asari stuff can stop me."

"Save it for later," Jeeran said shortly. He swallowed the last of the liquor left in his glass. "I need to make some purchases. I estimate it will take two to three days."

"What…kind of purchases?" Brendan said, stumbling to his feet. His head swayed dangerously close to the hanging ceiling light overhead.

"LOKI mech parts. At the same time, we must find a possible store location for the future."

"I'll do that," Brendan volunteered, rubbing his forehead. "Just get back to the house and order the parts. I'll meet you later."

Jeeran exited the building. "Indeed."


End file.
